A Question I Can't Answer
by PikaForce
Summary: Kenny needs some girl help...but he sure picked a strange person to take advice from. Twoshot. PenguinShipping. REVIEW!
1. Chapter 1

_How to impress a girl?_ Ash frowned. _A good question…but one that I can't answer._

An evening breeze puffed through the damp, salty air. The Trainer pushed his unruly black hair out of his eyes, shielding them as he looked beyond the nearby sea. Across from him, a brunette boy with earnest, pleading black eyes was gazing at him expectantly, waiting for an answer to his question. Meanwhile, Ash suspected that the wetness he felt on his own forehead was not necessarily all due to the humidity…it was also nervous perspiration.

Kenny was counting on him. And yet –

The boy from Pallet Town took a deep, steadying breath. "I…I…don't know, exactly," he admitted, nonetheless racking his brains for an answer that might sound good to Kenny. But as he sunk deeper and deeper into thought, Ash was forced to leave his first answer standing. "I don't know," he repeated to himself in a whisper.

Kenny's black eyes were smoldering; they looked confused and hurt. "But you have Misty," he said in a disbelieving voice. "You _must_ know how to go about impressing girls."

Ash gave him a sardonic smile. "Me? Impressing girls? That's crazy. I thought you at least knew me _that_ well, Kenny."

In reply, the brunette crossed his arms in a no-nonsense manner. "Misty doesn't seem like the kind of girl who's easily impressed…especially by a boy," he countered.

"That's true," Ash admitted slowly, . He half-wished wished that Misty were here to explain for him – because he himself didn't know why she'd stoop to his level, like him or not. _Unless…_ He blinked, realizing. _Unless…_

"Well? What's the secret?" Kenny asked, leaning forward earnestly. _I have to know. I need to know…_

Mind focused on his answer, Ash opened his mouth, closed it again, then bit his lip.

Finally he spoke, hesitantly at first, then more surely. "Well…I guess you should just be yourself," he said.

_Talk about anti-climactic,_ Kenny thought disparagingly, quirking an eyebrow. "Yeah. Everybody knows that. So?"

"I never did anything to impress Misty into liking me," Ash said, his voice firm with conviction. "That's for sure. I've been told by a certain female that I'm forgetful and dense, among various other things," he admitted, to be met with a snicker from Kenny. "But I guess just being _me,_" – he spread his arms wide – "Ash Ketchum, was the answer."

Instead of retorting with another bitter remark or a sarcastic quip, the Coordinator sat in silence, apparently mulling over Ash's words. Finally he stood up. "Thanks, Ash. I'll try."

Ash grinned in response, standing up also. "If I may make so free," he said, using some lingo that he'd picked up at the Pokemon Medieval Faire, "who art thou attempting to impress with thine own self?"

"Sorry. You may not make so free," was the short, but amused, reply. Kenny started to turn away.

"I could guess instead," Ash offered slyly, dropping the foreign speech. Kenny turned around.

"Go ahead and try," he offered. As he realized what he'd said, young Kenneth's onyx eyes went wide with alarm. _Stupid, stupid!_ He admonished himself. He cringed and waited for the answer.

"Well," Ash began, grinning like an idiot, "my first guess would be D-"

"GOTTA GO! THANKS, ASH!" the panicked Coordinator screamed, running across the sand with his fingers firmly planted in his ears.

Watching him go while shaking with silent laughter, Ash couldn't help but wonder how close he'd gotten to the truth. "Well, you can't win 'em all," he told himself at last, getting up from his rocky perch and, hands in pockets, wandering across the beach.

He thought of Misty again as he wriggled his bare toes in the whitewashed sand. "Dawn's a lucky girl for sure," he reflected. "And," he added, chuckling, "Kenny's an equally lucky guy – because Dawn doesn't own a mallet."


	2. Chapter 2

_Howdy, guys! Sorry this took so long to finish, even though it's not incredibly long…But even more so, I've been stuck on L14 for a while now. Hopefully (if my brainpowers suddenly return in a burst of supernatural inspiration) the next chapter will be up over the course of the next couple days. Anyway…enjoy the second part of this twoshot! It was challenging to write, but fun 'cause I really like Kenny. (No, not fangirl-like, I just like his personality.) So…on with the story!_

_-Pika_

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

_Breathe in, breathe out…breathe in, breathe out…_

Dawn stretched her arms high over her head, shaking her hair behind her shoulders. Rolling her neck, she listened until she heard it _pop_ into place, and she heaved a sigh in satisfaction. "Boy, that Contest took a lot out of me," she murmured. "More than I realized…"

Muted voices somewhere behind the bluenette made her crane her aching neck to find a face that matched the voice. It was a familiar voice, one that Dawn usually looked forward to hearing; but her brain was exhausted, and she sat for a moment while she tried to sort through names – it was a friend's voice, a close friend's. Then she realized – the voice belonged to Misty.

"Mist?" Dawn queried, her voice echoing in the empty room. Throwing her blue towel across the back of the bench, she groaned and got to her socked feet. "Misty? I heard you, don't pretend -" she began. But the footsteps she thought she'd heard had apparently receded – or they'd all simply been a figment of her active imagination.

"Whatever," Dawn said, returning to her stretches. _It's not like I really _needed _her anyway…_ Nonetheless, she paused to stare at the door, willing it to open and for her redheaded friend to appear. Maybe then she could give Dawn some advice on what she would say during the awards ceremony, to Kenny…

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

Misty, meanwhile, was busily pacing back and forth in the vicinity of the room Dawn was occupying (dubbed by the Coordinators as "the locker room"). She rubbed her temples wearily, gazing at the brunette boy before her. He refused to meet her eyes.

"Kenny," the redhead sighed, still pacing, "why don't you just go in there?"

"I…I can't." The boy's black eyes were burning holes in his shoes. "I can't go in there and ask Dee Dee…I'm a coward…"

Misty stared at him until Kenny was able to feel her gaze smoldering on the top of his head. Slowly, his onyx eyes met her ocean-colored ones. "You wouldn't understand," he said under his breath. Quiet though it was, there was no mistaking the confusion and conflict in his voice.

"How do you know that?" Misty queried hotly, her temper taking hold of her as it had countless times. Her stance and tone sent a message to Kenny: _Is that a challenge?_

The brunette, in turn, crossed his arms defensively. He considered leaving what he knew unsaid; he knew she would pick up on the jealousy in his voice. But he opened his big mouth anyway. "Because Ash is…well, he's in no danger of leaving you; as a friend or more than that. And I know I'm just asking Dawn's help, but it's still…well…_being_ with her."

Misty scratched her head; he was right, and she knew it. Stubborn and occasionally clueless though he was, Ash was also loyal – very loyal. "Weeeell," she said, drawing out the moment with a smirk, "We both know that you'd like to be, shall we say, more than 'just friends' with Miss Berlitz -"

Kenny's face was a rather interesting mixture of irritation, embarrassment, and frustration. "How would you know?" he retorted. "I haven't done or said anything to give you any…ideas."

"Kenny, you and I both know that that's nothing less than a big fat lie." She paused. "Unless you don't count the time ten minutes ago when you came running in from the beach with your fingers in your ears, shouting, 'I don't like Dawn!'" smirked the youngest Cerulean Sister.

Kenny opened his mouth heatedly to deny it, but his sensible side turned him away from another fib. Anybody who knew him knew that he didn't like telling falsehoods – or withholding truth. Instead, his big mouth came to the rescue yet again with the first thing that sprang to mind: "Nobody but you heard that!"

Misty began to walk away nonchalantly. "Just keep telling yourself that, Kenny," she said over her shoulder, her arms swinging.

"Fine," he muttered at last to her retreating back. "I'll go in." Inwardly, he was panicking. _Had_ someone other than Misty heard him? He hadn't meant to say anything aloud. Pushing aside his doubts as best he could, the brunette raised a hand and rapped at the metal door.

"Who is it?" He easily identified Dawn's voice. She sounded tired.

"I-It's me. Kenny. Can I come in?"

A barely noticeable pause, then, "Yup! Make yourself at home."

As Kenny opened the door, his eyes traveled immediately to the center of the spacious room. Alone and looking very small among the many benches sat Dawn Berlitz, clearly in the midst of an after-match stretch. Her arms were raised halfway above her head, a pair of faded pink sweats thrown sloppily over her Contest attire. It certainly was a switch from the way she'd used to dress – four years ago, when she and Kenny were both ten, all Dawn had been concerned about was wearing "fashionable" clothes. Now what mattered was how well she trained her Pokemon, and not so much about impressing everyone.

Unaware of Kenny's thoughts, Dawn quirked an eyebrow in welcome. Wordlessly, he took a seat beside her. They no longer felt a great need to exchange words unless there was something substantial to talk about – and Kenny was desperately trying to convince himself that there _was_ nothing to talk about…

"So…what's up?" Dawn cocked her head and continued stretching her arms.

"Just…wanted to talk about the Contest," Kenny blurted. _Shoot. Why'd I say that?_

She eyed him speculatively. "What is there to talk about? You won your Ribbon – it's your fifth, isn't it? And I lost. You'll be at the Grand Festival without me this year."

Was that edge he detected in her voice…was it bitterness? "Aw, it's okay…I mean…"

"Don't feel bad, Kenny." The bluenette girl managed a smile. "You won, fair and square. I wasn't good enough."

Kenny craned his head until she was forced to meet his onyx eyes. "You'll always be good enough for me, Dawn."

Several moments passed, moments in which Kenny realized what he had just said aloud and Dawn struggled to realize the reality of what he had just told her.

"I…I'm sorry, Dawn." Feeling flustered and defeated, the boy got to his feet. "I -"

"- You're not going anywhere." Dawn seemed surprised that the words had come out of her own lips, to Kenny's mild amusement (he was familiar with the feeling). "I – I mean, if you want to, of course, you can go."

Kenny smiled. "No, you're right. I'm not going anywhere."

Dawn settled herself once again on the floor. "So what did you _really_ want to talk about?"

Kenny grinned wryly. "You know me too well."

"True," Dawn admitted, the grin on her countenance mirroring his. "So spit it out."

"I…well…the end-of-Contest ceremony…we have to give out a speech…and I needed help with it…and I couldn't think of anyone else to give me a hand who would understand, so…yeah." He grimaced. _Way to go, Kenny. You're so eloquent that you'll blow her away with your words alone._

"I was having the same problem!" the bluenette exclaimed loudly, to Kenny's astonishment. "I know we have to thank the Pokemon Coordinator's League and stuff, and we have to shake hands…"

"But I wanted to add something special," the brunette said earnestly. "You know what I mean?"

Dawn nodded vigorously. One of her fingers had strayed to her "Contest curls," and she was unconsciously twisting a lock of navy-blue hair around a finger. "My feelings exactly. But how do I – how do _we_ – make it something to remember? Of course, you can talk about the Grand Festival…"

Kenny instantly saw where the conversation was going. "Dawn, I already told you…don't get down on yourself. You went to the Festival last year, and the year before that. You just got unlucky this year. No need to worry."

The bluenette felt a lump forming in her throat at the use of her longtime catchphrase. Over the last four years since they'd started on their Pokemon journeys, she realized, it had gradually become her rival's catchphrase as well. "Oh, Kenny…you're right. No need to worry?" The words were uncertain; a feeling of vulnerability swept through her.

"Exactly." And without thinking, acting on pure instinct, Kenny had his arms around her in a gentle hug.

Dawn was only stiff and uneasy for a second. After all, they _were_ friends, right? She returned the embrace, and for a while they just sat without movement, without speech. Kenny wanted it to last forever. Dawn wanted it to last for as long as he wanted it to.

Therefore, they were both sitting there for a very long time.

"Kenny…"

Her words were muffled on his shoulder, but he had sharp hearing. "Yes?"

"Every day, I _always_ know that there's no need to worry…" She seemed to be expecting a response.

"How's that?" Kenny whispered.

She gently released her arms and sat back from him, looking him full in the face. "It's because," she said softly, "I think of _you_ every day."

~.~.~.~.~.~.~.~

_All right, I know what you're thinking: Mushy! Mushy! Mushy! And that's not normally my thing. But it seemed right for two people like Dawn and Kenny – don't ask me why, it just did._

_Second of all, it has a lot of dialogue. Maybe too much; I'll let you decide on that. But I really like talking; therefore, I like a lot of dialogue in my fics. (You've probably noticed that if you're one of the amazing people who've read _Lucky Fourteen_.)_

_Third…I hope you enjoyed it despite the mushiness/fluff and abundance of dialogue! If you did, REVIEW! If you didn't, REVIEW! And if you're in-between – well, I'll let you figure it out. Hopefully an update on _L14_ will be coming soon; for some odd reason, I felt like I had to finish this first. But anyway…thanks for reading and reviewing, guys!_

_~Pika _


End file.
